Presented by POP Montreal and Oh Hi

Commander Clark doesn't play it cool. He first popped up on our radar during POP Montreal 2014 when he was invited up on stage to co-host Psi Factor and the Cougar's Str8 Talk interview with Ty Segall and Mikey Heppner. He gushed, he over-shared, he played a Ty Segall song on kazoo. So like, who was this guy with a comic book persona who wasn't afraid to dork out in front of a room full of strangers? Naturally, we had to find out.

POP You Did Me Wrong

It was day two of POP Montreal, and after consuming my fill of veggie dogs & beer at the Quartiers POP barbecue and taking a quick cat nap, I made my way to Théâtre Fairmount and got there just in time to catch Les Marinellis opening for Mikal Cronin. It was quite disappointing to discover the band playing to a virtually empty room. That big open space in front of the stage was probably the worst thing about POP Montreal this year, and this particular performance by the band was lacklustre as a result.

The evening began at 10:52 with a mad dash to the dépanneur. Missing the 11 o'clock cut-off for beer would be a critical mistake for deadbeats like us attending a BYOB show at the Drones loft, and indeed a devastating blow was dealt upon reaching the corner of Belanger and St. Dominique. How could this be, it's only 10:55!? But wait there is hope! If we sprint we can make it to the dep on Mozart! The length of Jean-Talon market felt like miles as we raced against time, only to be twice defeated, greeted by the sign: FERMÉ. What a caloric expenditure for naught, and why the early closure? Because it is Sunday?!

Presented by Greenland Productions

Winter drags on in Montreal, and yet the spring touring season has begun. Over the next few months, bands from around the world will stream through our city and make the emergence of the grey tidal wave of trash buried under the ice a little more palatable.

I've seen Torche twice before. The first time opening for Boris in 2008 (touring for Meanderthal), and the second time opening for Corrosion of Conformity (touring for Harmonicraft). So when I heard that they were finally headlining a local show, I was beyond excited.